718 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1116 



third series in the physiological laboratory of 

 the Tale Medical School, through the courtesy 

 of Professor Tandell Henderson. 



At the time each observation was made, from 

 three to twenty observers were asked to express 

 their opinion as to the comfortableness of the 

 atmospheric conditions on a scale of five as 

 follows : 1, cold ; 2, cool ; 3, ideal ; 4, warm ; 5, 

 hot. The comfort vote in the table represents 

 the average of the observers voting on each 

 occasion. 



With these esceptions the plotted points are 

 not at all badly grouped about the calculated 

 line, considering that we are dealing with so 

 variable a factor as the sensation of comfort. 

 A study of individual points which deviate 

 widely from the straight line shows that of 

 twelve cases in which the atmospheric condi- 

 tions were voted as hotter than would be ex- 

 pected from the thermometer readings, every 

 one was either outdoors in a wind or indoors in 

 front of the electric fan (observations 6, 8, 10, 



The results of the comfort vote have been 

 plotted against wet and dry bulb readings in 

 the diagram, the straight lines representing 

 the most probable curve as calculated from 

 individual observations. Two records out of 

 the forty-five (Nos. 24 and 27) have been 

 omitted since these very high values (12 min- 

 utes and 14 minutes, respectively, for the dry 

 bulb) fell far below the curve. The comfort 

 vote fails to express such extreme conditions 

 adequately. 



12, 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32). Of thirteen 

 cases in which the atmospheric conditions were 

 voted cooler than would be expected from the 

 reading, on the other hand, only four were 

 cases in which there was a strong current of 

 moving air (observations 1, 3, 4, Y, 13, 16, 18, 

 19, 22, 33, 37, 38, 39). This probably means 

 that whereas the ordinary thermometer leaves 

 out entirely the effect of air movement, the 

 Kata thermometer emphasizes it somewhat 

 unduly. 



